Hairpiece

ABSTRACT

Wefts of hairstrands are applied to a foundation (a cap or base). The hair strands are curled in such a manner that the closely spaced adjacent wefts have hair precurled in opposite directions so as to define a pair of facing concave sections forming between them a tunnel effect.

[ Sept. 5, 1972 United States Patent Greco [54] HAIRPIECE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [72] Inventor:

Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-.l. N. 'Eskovitz Attorney-Eliot S. Gerber [22] Filed:

[52] US. TRACT [51] Int. 3/00 wefis of haimrands are a pp led to a foundation (a [58] Field ofSearch...............................132/53, 54, 5 cap or base). The hair strands are curled in Such a R f Cted' manner that the closely spaced adjacent wefts have e I hair precurled in opposite directions so as to define a UNITED STATES PATENTS pair of facing concave sections forming between them a tunnel effect.

670,857 3/1901 Dorenwend.................132/54 3,561,457 2/1971 Duesel.........................132/53 4 Claims, 21 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP 5|912 SHEET 1 OF 5 INVENTOR. RA /v/ G PECQ PATENTEDSEP 5 m2 SHEEI 2 [IF 5 INVENTOR. FRANK GPE'ta PATENTED E 1912 3.688.779

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FRANK GRECO I F IG.'I4B

' 15/ I54 INVENTOR ATTORNEY PA'IENTEDSEP 51m SHEU 5 0f 5.

INVENTOR FIG. I3A

FIG. I38

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HAIRPIECE The present invention relates to a hairpiece and its method of manufacture and, more particularly, to improvements in wefted wigs and other hairpieces.

Originally wigs were made by joining individual hair strands to a cap formed of net material. The work in knotting the strands to the cap was slow and costly. Subsequently hair strands were gathered together and joined at the base or center by an elongated thin ribbon, forming a weft. The weft is a machine sewed group of hairstrands with the joining seam running generally perpendicular to the lay of the strands. Wefts may be joined to a cap, or other foundation, by hand or machine sewing.

The major problem in hairpieces (including wigs, wiglets, toupees, and falls) is that they do not have fullness or body. Even those hairpieces in which the strands are individually joined to the foundation (called ventilated or hand-tied) lack sufficient body, so that the consumer cannot style her own wig or hairpiece- Hairpieces manufactured from wefts also lack body. To set or style the wefted hairpiece one must go to a hairdresser who will tease the strands, i.e., back-comb the hair, forming a tuft at the base of the shaft of the hair, causing the hair to arch and lift and giving the appearance of fullness.

All of this effort is directly contrary to the advertising for such hairpieces which states that the hairpiece is a do-it-yourself" product.

At the present time manufacturers use various patterns of attaching wefts to the foundation. In some instances they even use more than one method on the same hairpiece. The most popular methods presently used are as follows: (1) circular, in which the wefts are attached to the foundation in a single spool-like rotating motion which is continuous from the center of the hairpiece to its outer edge; (2) horizontal, in which the wefts are attached to the foundation in a series of left to right motions in which the weft is cut at the end of each motion and attached again starting from the left; (3) zig-zag, in which the weft is attached in a wavy motion and is particularly used on the back portion or nape area of the wig and around the edges; (4) semi-circular, in which the weft is attached to the foundation in a series of motions resembling a half-moon or horseshoe shape; (5) vertical, in which the wefts are attached to the foundation in an attaching and cutting motion which arranges the hair in a vertical series. In addition, on some hairpieces both machine and hand methods are used on the same hairpiece. It is also conceivable that wefts, for example, stretchable wefts, can be joined together (without a foundation) to form a hairpiece.

This variety of methods poses serious problems to the manufacturers, both in terms of the cost of labor and obtaining uniformity of production. In addition, they sometimes use both pre-curling or after-curling, which sometimes requires trained hairdressers to perform the trimming, after-curling and inspection steps. After-curling is the process in which the finished hairpiece is set for the permanent curl that the hairpiece is to attain by rolling the hair about molding and shaping means, such as rollers, of aluminum or wire mesh, or wood or other suitable material, and then baking the hairpiece at from l75-200F for about 1 hour. Natural hair may be pre-curled by chemicals or heat, a suitable chemical being thioglycolic acid. Generally pre-curling and after-curling techniques are used with synthetic and non-human hair. After-curling occurs after the hairpiece is completed, that is, after the wefts are sewn to the foundation. in contrast, in pre-curling the strands are rolled about molding and shaping means, such as rollers, curling rods or pipes made of wood, aluminum or other heat conducting materials. The rods and hair or fiber are then placed in the heat chamber, which is heated at l-200F. for about 1 hour, the rods removed from the heat chamber and the hair or fiber allowed to cool. Pre-curling requires much less labor and skill as the wefts are uniform and may be easily handled in an elongated molding and shaping means, such as rods. For example, in pre-curling the straight strands are rolled in paper about a rod and the rolled strands (in the paper) are secured to the rod by rubber bands during the oven period. In contrast, in aftercurling it is difficult and impractical to place curlers on a completed wig.

Besides the above-identified requirement of aftercurl which tends to increase the price of synthetic fiber wigs, it has also been found in the past that these wigs often do not have the form and balance that will subject the wig to any fashionable hair style. Also, these wigs do not generally have the desired holding power or permanence of style.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved balance of a hairpiece and method of its manufacture.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a hairpiece having form and balance that will lend itself to almost any fashionable styling, depending upon hair length, by simply combing or brushing.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a hairpiece which is more attractive, versatile, lighter in weight and more secure.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a wig where any hair style provided is better maintained and is easier to manage.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a wig which uses less material and which is easier to produce wherein production capacity can be increased by 50 percent or more.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a wig having more body with less material and wherein the quantity of hair fiber used may be reduced at least 10 percent and wherein the weight of the wig may be reduced at least 15 percent.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide for a method which substantially reduces hand operation of stopping and cutting, except perhaps at the temple area, thereby providing a faster procedure.

It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a finished hairpiece which will be of uniform quality so that the hairpieces ordered on the basis of samples will conform to the sample when delivered by the manufacturer.

It is a further objective of the present invention to provide for a hairpiece in which the manner of attaching the weft to the foundation may, in some cases, be uniform over the foundation and in which the attachment of wefts may be attained more by machine methods or entirely by machine methods.

It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a hairpiece which will not require professional hairstyles without the need for a professional hairdresser.

These and other objects and the nature and advantages of the instant invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description of an exemplification of the invention taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the foundation with the broken lines indicating the pattern and foundation with the broken lines indicating the pattern and direction of wefting as sewn onto the foundation, and with a portion of the hair shown;

FIG. 2 is a schematic, partly broken away, close-up view of FIG. 1 showing the pre-curled nature of the hair strands;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the hair strand direction and wefting method sequence in the form to which it lends itself after being mounted or sewn to the wig foundation as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a preferred wefting pattern;

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an alternative wefting pattern;

FIGS. 58 and 5C are diagrams showing the forming of the wig using the pattern of FIG. 5A;

FIG. 5D is a side view of a weft;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of still another alternative wefting pattern;

FIGS. 6B and 6C are diagrams showing the forming of the wig using the pattern of FIG. 6A;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the wefting attached to a foundation, which is a still further embodiment in which the wefting is twisted;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 in which only one of the pair of wefts is twisted;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a pair of wefts in which one has longer hair than the other;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of a portion of wefting attached to a foundation in which a single weft is folded back on itself;

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of two wefts joined together according to the invention;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of hairs split on a single weft;

FIG. 13A shows alternative direction of curls on a single weft;

FIG. 138 shows alternative direction of curls on a twisted weft;

FIG. 14A is a side view, and 14B is a side view, showing the laying of wefts on a foundation according to the present invention.

Referring to the FIGS. 1-4, it will be seen that the wig or other hairpiece comprises a foundation l0 shaped to conform to the shape of the head or a portion of the head. The foundation may be a net of flexible stretchable or non-stretchable fabric, a solid member of polyester resin impregnated fiberglass, animal skin or other suitable materials. The foundation has thereon hair strands 12 in the form of elongated wefts 20 attached to the foundation 10 by any suitable means. The hair strands may be human hair, animal hair, or synthetic filaments, or vegetable fibers, threads and fibers. The length of the strands may be one-fourth of an inch to long lengths, even feet long. By way of example only, suitable fibers are Dynel," Union Carbides trademark, or Kanekalon," the trademark of Kaneka Fuji for one of its synthetic fibers. Dynel" is a modacrylic fiber which is a copolymer of vinyl chloride and acrylonitrile. Generally Dynel consists of irregular ribbon-shaped cross-section filaments. For example, the thickness may be from 16 denier to 50 denier. The wefts are formed by adhering together a group of hair strands as shown in FIG. 5D. For example, the weft 20 may be formed by joining the looped centers 21 of hair strands in an elongated sewn seam 22 with a thin ribbon 23 running perpendicular to the lay of the hair strands. A suitable weft may be produced by sewing two parallel lines of stitching (using stretchable or non-stretchable thread) down a group of flat-laying strands. The strands are then folded over and another line of sewing joins the folds. For example, if the strands are 10 inches long the weft would have strands 5 inches long. The wefts are joined to the foundation by a suitable means, for example, by machine sewing, hand sewing, hand or machine weaving, an adhesive such as a heat sensitive or pressure sensitive or air drying glue, stapling, or the heat welding of plastic resins on the weft and foundation.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the wefts are present in the form of a pair constituted by an upper weft l4 and a lower weft 16, each having hair strands 18 attached thereof.

The wefts l4 and 16 providing the pair are spaced closely adjacent one another as is best seen from FIGS. 1, 2 and 3; on the other hand, adjacent pairs of wefts are spaced relatively far apart from one another. This spacing of adjacent pairs is on the order of about six times the distance of the spacing between the wefts l4 and 16 of a pair. For example, noting FIG. 2 the distance A between wefts 14 and 16 of a pair may be on the order of about one-eighth inch, whereas the distance B between pairs may be on the order of about three-fourths inch.

The wig consequently has a unique spacing of the wefts as indicated above. But the more important feature of the present invention is the nature of curvature of the pre-curled hair strands 18. As is clear from FIGS. 1-3 the hair 18 extending from the closely spaced adjacent wefts l4 and 16 are pre-curled in opposite directions so as to define a pair of facing concave sections. Accordingly, a more or less cylindrical tunnel is provided between these facing concave sections of precurled hair, as is readily apparent from the drawing.

Although one pattern of applying the weft to the foundation has been described in connection with FIGS. 14, it will be understood that other patterns may be used, as long as the hair strands are placed in curl-facing-curl relationship. For example, the pattern may be circular, horizontal, zig-zag, or vertical. The term circular may also be used to denote semi-circular or half-moon. The spacing between the wefts may vary and is not limited to the above-mentioned spacing.

As an example of wefts as shown in FIG. 5A, the wefts may be formed so that the hair strands are not continuous along the length of the weft or weft ribbon. This provides for a considerable savings in fiber (over percent) and enables the hair to give a rising or elevating effect. For example, the group of hair 40 in weft 31 has a space 41 before reaching the next group of hair strands 43. The first tunnel effect is formed by hair groups 40 and 46 (of wefts 31 and 33) and the next tunnel is formed by hair groups 43 and 47 (of wefts 32 and 34). The hairs of groups 40, 43, 42, and 45 all curl inwardly, that is, in the direction of arrow A. The hairs curling inward and forming the tunnel in the direction of arrow B are the hair groups 46, 47, 48, and 49. A suitable pattern for the hair groups, illustrating show they form alternate tunnels, is shown in FIG. 5C. A simplified version of the same embodiment, but which, perhaps, shows the arrangement somewhat clearer, is shown in FIG. 5B.

A still further embodiment is shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C. In that embodiment the wefts 51 through 60 are formed with a considerable gap between each of the hair groups. The tunnel forming procedure is more complex than in the previous embodiment and is illustrated in FIGS. 68 and 6C. It will be noted, for example, that the first weft has a first group of hair 61 in the direction of arrow A and a second group 62 in the direction of arrow B. The first tunnel is consequently formed between the hair group 61' of weft 51 and the hair group 63 of weft 53. The second tunnel is formed between hair group 64 of weft 52 and the hair group 65 of weft 54.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, one of the wefts 60 is twisted at points 61 and 62 along its length. It is possible to twist the other weft of the pair 63, also along its length, in a corresponding fashion. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the weft 63 is straight. The tunnel effect is formed because the group of hairs 64 is curled inward in the direction of arrow 65. Similarly the group of hairs 66 is curved inward in the same direction and the group of hairs 67 is curved inward also in the same direction, that is, in the direction of arrow 68. All of the hairs 69 attached to the weft 63 are curved inward.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8 the same tunnel effect may be obtained by twisting both of the wefts. It should be noted in these particular embodiments that the twisting of the weft, as it is attached to the foundation, does not affect the direction of the curl. As shown in FIG. 8 the weft 70 is twisted at points 71, 72, and 73. The weft 74 is similarly twisted at points 75, 76, and 77. The group of hair 78 is curved inward in the direction of arrow 79 which is the same direction of curl as the group of hairs 80 and 81. The facing curls, which are curved inward and are concaved to form a tunnel effect, are the hairs 82 which are attached to the weft 74.

It is also possible to fold groups of hair, which extend from the weft, under the weft without twisting the weft. For example, in the embodiments of FIGS. SA-C certain of the hair groups could be folded under the weft. The weft, with the tucked-under hair, may then be sewn, or otherwise attached, to the foundation. The hair would be curled inward to form, with an opposed group of hair, the same tunnel-like effect.

As shown in the view of FIG. 9, it is not essential that the hairs forming the tunnel on either side he of the same length. The tunnel is formed in FIG. 9 of a group of hair strands attached to the weft 91 which is curled inward in a face-to-face relationship to the group of hairs 92 which are attached to the weft 93. As illustrated, the hairs are shorter than the hairs 92.

In the embodiment of FIG. 10 a single weft 95, having its attached hairs all pre-curled in the same direction is curved with a U-fold 96 so that its attached hairs 97 at one side are in face-to-face relationship with the hairs 98 on the other side, with the hairs 97 and 98 both inwardly faced and concave, forming between them a tunnel-like effect. The same type of appearance is attained, as shown in FIG. 11, joining together a first weft 100 (having a group of hairs 101 which are curved inwardly) to a second weft 102 (having a group of hairs 103 also curved inwardly). The curls are in a face-toface relationship, providing a tunnel-like effect. The wefts 101 and 102 may be joined by sewing, heat sealing, adhesive methods or by other means. The joined wefts 100 and 102 would then be attached to the foundation, for example, by sewing, heat sealing, adhesives or other methods.

In the embodiment of FIG. 12, the hairs of a single weft 105 are relatively thick. This enables about half of the hairs 106 to be separated from the other half of the hairs 107. The hairs 106 are curved inwardly and form with the inwardly curved hairs 107 a tunnel-like effect. In other words, the curls of hairs 106 are in a face-toface relationship with the curls of hair 107. The weft 105 would then be attached to the foundation, for example, by known adhesives, heat sealing or sewing methods.

The single weft 110, as shown in FIG. 13A, may have one group of hairs curled in one direction 111 and, in tandem, a second group of hairs 112 curled in the opposite direction. The embodiment of FIG. 13A would be used to form the type of pattern in which similar wefts are used with the wefts arranged so that the hairs of each group from a tunnel-like arrangement.

A similar embodiment, but using twisting of the weft ribbon, is shown in FIG. 13B.

As shown in FIGS. 14A and 143, the wefts 150, 152 and 154 are attached to the foundation facing one way and the wefts 151 and 153 attached facing the opposite direction. The tunnel effect is formed between the inwardly curved strands of wefts 151 with 152 and 153 with 154.

It should be understood that, although the above description has given the use of the present invention over the entire body of a wig or other hairpiece, only part of the foundation may be covered using the tunnel- Iike facing curled relationship of the present invention. For example, the conventional methods of applying wefts may be used on part of the hairpiece and the curlfacing-curl tunnel-like efiect used on other parts of the hairpiece. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, the wefts 120, 121, 122, and 123 are laid in conventional ways, that is, with the hairs lying straight or curled in the same direction. On the other hand, the other wefts 124 and 125 are attached to the foundation with their hairs pre-curled with the hairs of weft 124 curled inwardly and facing the inwardly curved curls of weft 125. It will be understood, in addition, that the curl-facing-curl relationship of the present invention may be used on part of the hairpiece and the remainder of the hairpiece may be hand-knotted, that is, with individual strands attached to the foundation. The wefts of the present invention, using the curl-facing-curl relationship, are preferably applied by machine. However, alternatively the wefts may be applied to the foundation by hand or by a combination of machine and hand methods.

The ,present invention is also applicable to handknotted (ventilated) wigs and other hairpieces. In such hairpieces the hair strands, natural or artificial and with or without pre-curling, may be knotted or otherwise attached to a foundation. For example, human hair strands may be knotted to a foundation with the strands knotted in rows and with spacings. A suitable spacing pattern for this purpose is shown in FIG. 4. The hair may then be after-curled in the above-described curlfacing-curl relationship.

At the present time there are two artificial fibers which have been found most acceptable by the manufacturers and consumers for use in hairpieces. These fibers are Dynel, a product of Union Carbide, and Kanekalon, a product of Kaneka Fuji Company. The demand for these fibers at this time exceeds their supply and consequently there is an intricate system of rationing within the hairpiece manufacturing industry. Since each manufacturer is allocated onlya limited supply of artificial fiber, it is important that he produce the largest number of hairpieces from the least amount of material. In addition, of course, the decrease in the amount of material used for each hairpiece results in a savings to the manufacturer in money, as the cost of the fibers is a major constituent of his manufacturing costs.

The wholesaler also faces considerable problems at the present time. Most of the hairpieces are manufactured in Korea and Hong Kong. They are sold to the wholesalers, who are also the importers, on the basis of samples which are displayed to them. However, due to the variety of production methods and the large amount of hand labor involved, frequently the actual goods which he receives from the manufacturer differ from the sample from which he has ordered. He must, in that case, often drastically reduce the prices and dump the poor quality merchandise on the market. In addition, the importer-wholesalers now require a staff of hairdressers who demonstrate and sell their finished product. Such demonstrations are required because the hairpieces require a professional hairdresser to comb, tease, cut, trim, and style them in order to present an acceptable product. The utilization of these professional hairdressers again emphasizes that the presentday hairpieces fall far short of being a do-it-yourself" product. I

The present invention has consequently provided a hairpiece which uses less of the limited supply of artificial fibers on each hairpiece. This results in a saving to the manufacturer in the cost of materials and, in addition, enables him to produce more hairpieces with his allocation of scarce fibers. It provides a hairpiece which is uniform so that the hairpieces actually delivered are in accord with the samples shown. It enables the manufacturers and wholesalers to use skilled hairdressers to perform styling innovations as part of the production sequence of manufacturing or designing hairpieces. It enables the consumer to purchase a hairpiece with assurance of receiving a uniform product w ich can be st le b t e consumer herself and wiihout the need of a bro essional hairdresser. The

hairpiece has balance, fullness and interlocking of the hair strands as caused by the curl-facing-curl relationship.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hairpiece comprising a foundation and hair in the form of a plurality of elongated wefts attached to said foundation, the improvement comprising: a group of pairs of wefts sewn side-by-side to said foundation in a circular pattern, each group consisting of a first weft and a second weft, wherein in each pair of said group the weft have hair attached thereto, wherein said first weft and said second weft are closely spaced and wherein the adjacent wefts of said pair are curled in opposite directions to define a pair of facing concave sec tions forming a tunnel-like effect, the hair of said first weft being curled to be C-shaped and the hair of said second weft being curled to be a backward C-shape so that said tunnel-like effect is provided by the C-shapes facing each other to form almost an O.

2. A hairpiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein each pair of said wefts is spaced from an adjacent pair of wefts by a distance on the order of about six times the distance of the spacing of said closely spaced wefts which form said pair.

3. A wig in accordance with claim 1 wherein said wefts comprising said pair of wefts are spaced about one-eighth inch from one another and wherein each said pair are spaced from an adjacent pair about threefourths inch.

4. A wig in accordance with claim 1 wherein said foundation is formed of stretch-fabric. 

1. In a hairpiece comprising a foundation and hair in the form of a plurality of elongated wefts attached to said foundation, the improvement comprising: a group of pairs of wefts sewn sideby-side to said foundation in a circular pattern, each group consisting of a first weft and a second weft, wherein in each pair of said group the weft have hair attached thereto, wherein said first weft and said second weft are closely spaced and wherein the adjacent wefts of said pair are curled in opposite directions to define a pair of facing concave sections forming a tunnel-like effect, the hair of said first weft being curled to be C-shaped and the hair of said second weft being curled to be a backward C-shape so that said tunnel-like effect is provided by the C-shapes facing each other to form almost an O.
 2. A hairpiece in accordance with claim 1 wherein each pair of said wefts is spaced from an adjacent pair of wefts by a distance on the order of about six times the distance of the spacing of said closely spaced wefts which form said pair.
 3. A wig in accordance with claim 1 wherein said wefts comprising said pair of wefts are spaced about one-eighth inch from one another and wherein each said pair are spaced from an adjacent pair about three-fourths inch.
 4. A wig in accordance with claim 1 wherein said foundation is formed of stretch-fabric. 